Hiroshima

 

The next day, on the 13th, we headed to Hiroshima. We used our Seishun Juuhachi Kippu again so it took almost seven hours. It wasn't too bad though and it didn't really seem quite that long.

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Osaka - Universal Studios

 

We spent our second day in Osaka at Universal Studios. I originally wanted to arrive at opening, but we arrived about an hour later because we stayed up late the night before. We took a train to Universal City Station. I thought we had to transfer, but we didn't really have to, so we got off the train for no reason. We had to wait about ten minutes for the next train but it ended up being a good thing because the next train was decorated with Harry Potter!!!

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Osaka Aquarium and Umeda Sky Building

On the 11th, the day after the fireworks, Jonathan and I headed to Osaka. We took local trains instead of the shinkansen because we used seishun juuhachi kippu. That ticket gives you five days of unlimited travel on local and rapid JR lines. It's only 11,500 yen so that's only 2,300 yen a day. It's a really good deal if you have the time to take slower trains.

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Fukuroi Enshu Fireworks

 

Last Saturday (August 10th) I went to the Fukuroi Enshu Fireworks festival. Fukuroi is a town to the east of Iwata and it's only a five minute train ride away. The fireworks show took place in a park about a half hour walk from Fukuroi station.

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Biking and the Beach

Last Friday Jonathan and I too a bike ride in the late afternoon/evening. Before setting out I bought some snacks at a konbini. I got peach mango gummies, tea, and Cheeza crackers (So good! Better than Cheez-its!) The tea came with a Rilakkuma bottle cover! :)

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I Climbed Mt. Fuji Again!

On Monday night, Jonathan and I climbed Mt. Fuji. It was his first time, but my second time (here's the post about my first time: Fujisan! I Climbed a Volcano!).

The forecast I saw for Mt. Fuji was constantly changing, but it consistently said that Monday night would be clear. It showed PM rain, night clear, and AM rain, but the rain was only supposed to be a few millimeters. As we rode the train from Iwata to Fujinomiya station it got cloudier and cloudier. It was raining in Fujinomiya when we arrived and started raining even harder while we waited for the bus. Shortly before the bus arrived it started to clear up a bit.

The bus took about an hour and a half to reach the 5th station of the Fujinomiya trail. It winds up the mountain through a really pretty forest. It got really really foggy and creepy looking (I guess the bus driver knows that route pretty well because visibility was sooooo low!). It was cool looking, but my outlook for the climb wasn't good.

We arrived at the 5th station and waited for a while to adjust to the altitude. The bus had taken us to 2,400 meters. While we waited, we looked in the gift shop and bought our walking sticks and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that we had packed.

The weather at the 5th station wasn't good. It wasn't raining hard, but it was misty and there weren't any good views. I was hoping the forecast was right and that it would eventually clear up.

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My Summer So Far

I have been on summer break since July 18th. I haven't done too much yet though. I'm saving my money for when I go to Osaka, Miyajima, and Tokyo. So I haven't done any traveling, but I've done a few things around here. I've been to the malls a couple times. At Ichino in Hamamatsu I saw Pon de Lion, Mister Donut's mascot! So cute! Jonathan thought this was embarrassing, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity, haha.

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